In November 2021, the Azrieli Foundation and the Weizmann Institute of Science announced the establishment of the Azrieli Institute for Brain and Neural Sciences.  

With the Foundation’s leading donation of US$50 million, the Weizmann Institute campus in Rehovot, Israel will be home to a new flagship neuroscience research institute, housed in a state-of-the art building. This is the latest chapter in the Azrieli Foundation’s long-time partnership with Weizmann; prior to this gift, the Foundation gave nearly US$30 million for a range of Weizmann research endeavors, facilities and fellowships. 

Prof. Alon Chen is the President of the Weizmann Institute of Science, and an active neuroscientist who studies the neurobiology of stress. We spoke with Prof. Chen about the new initiative and his vision for its future. 

Azrieli Foundation: It has been a year since the announcement of the Azrieli Institute for Brain and Neural Sciences. Can you talk about any developments? 

Alon Chen: It was a fantastic year of fundraising for this important project. We have already raised 91 per cent of the cost of the construction of the building, which is on schedule to start in July or August, 2023. In brain and neuroscience, the medical need is so immense, and it’s such a complex system, that it was relatively easy to excite the community around the world. 

We also made some structural changes to prepare for the academic launch such as organizing our approximately 40 neuroscience research groups on campus into two departments – the Department for Brain Sciences and the Department for Molecular Neuroscience – which will enhance the capabilities of the Azrieli Institute. 

AF: The announcement emphasized the creative interfaces that can emerge when scientists from various disciplines work under one roof. Can you give an example from your own research where physical proximity to scientists from other areas of expertise made an impact? 

AC: Our scientists have the freedom to explore. Especially within the domain of neuroscience – this is such a multidisciplinary field that you need people not only from the biomedical fields to provide their expertise, but also from physics, math, computer science, psychology and so on. From my own experience in biomedical neuroscience, I can give two examples. 

My lab is studying the brain’s responses to stressful stimuli and how this is related to different psychopathologies, and we are collecting a lot of behavioural and physiological data. The collaboration with Prof. Elad Schneidman’s lab allowed us to establish mathematical models to extract knowledge from the vast amount of data that we are generating. We managed to develop a much more sophisticated approach and ensure the preclinical animal research stage more closely resembles the human pathology. This would not have happened if Elad and I hadn’t crossed paths in the corridor and gone to lunch or coffee to discuss these concepts together – which is exactly what we did. 

The second and shorter example is collaborating with clinicians – in my case, psychiatrists. The clinical perspective totally changes the way we approach certain questions. Human and clinical data allow us to expand the type of science we are doing. 

AF: Weizmann has a strong vision of “science for the benefit of humanity,” and is internationally renowned for excellence in fundamental research. What is your approach to translating discoveries from basic science into knowledge that benefits people?  

AC: We all agree that it’s important to find solutions for Alzheimer’s or ALS, but our approach is not to develop a treatment per se. Our aim is to develop solutions through a very deep mechanistic understanding of the systems. And this recipe has been working for almost 90 years now. It may take two or three decades to see the impact – but eventually, it’s creating huge leaps in knowledge that benefit humanity. 

AF: You became the president of Weizmann in December of 2019, only a few months before the effects of the pandemic were felt worldwide. How did that affect your vision of what you wanted to do at the Institute? 

AC: The Weizmann never really stopped working. With all the limitations, we kept the science going, and we succeeded in doing so even though we periodically had to reduce the number of people on campus dramatically to keep everyone healthy. The pandemic didn’t change my scientific vision, but it helped shape part of it in the sense that the public and policymakers and politicians realized that science was responsible for the solution – and that science can and should actively be promoted on the world stage. While COVID was an extremely unfortunate thing, the turn of events in the last few years has put us in a position to further promote our scientific vision for the Institute. 

When the pandemic started, we had only two research groups working on viruses, and within two or three weeks, our scientists initiated more than 60 research projects on COVID – representing 25 per cent of all the research on campus. Not because we asked them to, but because they had the freedom of philosophy, and they just decided they wanted to take part. In response to our scientists’ initiatives, we established a fund for COVID research, and our supporters worldwide contributed, within weeks. We are very proud of what we have achieved over these two and a half years. 

AF: One of your first official visits as president was to Canada in February 2020. Why did you feel compelled to make Canada one of your first destinations in your new role? And how do you envision the collaboration between Israeli and Canadian institutions going forward? 

AC: We have an extremely strong community of friends of the Weizmann Institute in Canada, which encouraged me to visit and promote my scientific vision in my first months as president. Susan Stern, CEO of Weizmann Canada, is doing amazing work building and nurturing these relationships. We also have a long-term relationship with the Azrieli Foundation in Canada – as you know, this is not the first gift. [Other Azrieli investments at Weizmann include the Azrieli Institute for Systems Biology and the Azrieli National Institute for Human Brain Imaging and Research, and a major donation for Fragile X research.] 

Many of our scientists have ongoing collaborations with Canadian scientists, and we are trying to expand this as much as we can. Recently, we had a terrific delegation of Canadian university presidents who visited multiple universities and institutions in Israel, including Weizmann. The Azrieli Foundation was a sponsor of this visit. I am already in communication with several of university presidents to develop future partnerships. 

AF: The Azrieli Foundation, Weizmann Canada and the Weizmann Institute of Science have maintained a special partnership over many years. What makes this an effective philanthropic partnership? 

AC: It’s a combination of trust, goals and vision. I think the Weizmann Institute and the Azrieli Foundation have a very similar approach toward science: curiosity-based research, academic freedom, a focus on scientific excellence. 

It’s easy to work with people who really have the passion for science, and it’s strongly reflected in my discussions with the Azrieli Foundation team. They have a strong passion for neuroscience – and for me, it’s easy, because I’m a neuroscientist – but regardless, this is clearly the last frontier in biomedical research. Solutions will only come from a foundational understanding of this complex machine, by bringing together the brightest minds from different fields of research and providing them with the resources and the right setting to generate new knowledge – together. The campus is extremely excited about this initiative.  

As for the establishment of the Azrieli Institute for Brain and Neural Sciences, it goes without saying that such a visionary donation creates momentum, inspires others and sets a high bar for giving. 

This interview has been condensed for length and clarity. 

Since its inception 15 years ago, the Azrieli Fellows Program has fostered academic excellence by providing generous fellowships to exceptional scholars. The quarterly Azrieli Fellows Forums give these researchers the opportunity to connect with one another and expand their perspectives.  

The Fellows Program has three tracks for academics at different stages of their research careers: the Graduate Studies Fellowship, the International Postdoctoral Fellowship and the Early Career Faculty Fellowship. Fields of study include education, exact sciences, life sciences, architecture, social sciences and humanities.  

Nearly 60 new Fellows join the Fellows Program every year. Of those, 25 are Graduate Studies Fellows from one of eight academic institutions in Israel. The Program hosts a range of career-focused and social activities, including four annual meetings — known as Fellows Forums — where the Graduate Studies members present their research to the Fellows community. The Forums give them the opportunity to network, enhance their professional and social lives and learn about the research projects of their peers. Ultimately, the Forums promote multidisciplinary research and help broaden participants’ horizons beyond their specific area of study. 

Fellows Program staff work with a steering committee of current Fellows to offer engaging day-long programming at the Forums. New Fellows are given the opportunity to present their research, get feedback and participate in a variety of activities such as academic “speed dating” and roundtables.  

The Azrieli Fellows Program makes significant efforts to support Fellows’ professional and soft skills development. Before each Forum, participating speakers are trained to improve their presentation skills through a workshop and one-on-one sessions with a communications and storytelling professional. Each presentation is filmed, enabling speakers to receive feedback from the trainer. Speakers are also paired with professionals in their field (both within and outside of the Azrieli Fellows community), who view their presentations and provide academic input.

At the height of the pandemic, all forums took place over Zoom. However, during the past academic year, half of the Forums took place in person.   

The feedback from the Fellows community about one of their latest forums has been extremely positive.  

“I found it intellectually and psychologically invigorating,” says one participant, who described the forum as “a special, enriching experience.”  

Another Fellow couldn’t choose just one favourite part of the day, noting: “I super enjoyed Kahoot and speed dating, and of course, the research presentations.”  

With the Azrieli Foundation’s recent donation of NIS 40 million, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) is now home to the newly-named Azrieli National Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopment Research, a leading international centre for innovation in translational research, diagnosis and interventions in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental conditions.

This new centre builds on the legacy of the National Autism Center of Israel established in 2018 with funding awarded to BGU by the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology. They focus on developing shared resources such as the National Autism Database and Biobank, enabling collaboration with other ASD research and clinical centres in Israel. Researchers and clinical faculty leverage their complementary expertise to develop a highly innovative and integrated model of research and clinical care at Soroka University Medical Center (SUMC). They build partnerships across the entire Israeli research community, with health care and child care providers, families, government and industry.

The Azrieli Foundation’s donation will enable the centre to build on existing initiatives and grow in new areas. One such initiative will allocate start-up funds to promote collaborative research projects between researchers from accredited Israeli universities and medical centres, who will be selected by a national inter-university committee. By prioritizing high-risk, high-impact projects, the centre has the potential to catalyze transformative results. Researchers from across Israel will be invited to use the centre’s data and infrastructure to accelerate and elevate their work leading to national and international collaborations and new discoveries.

The centre’s ability to conduct groundbreaking research depends on recruiting outstanding PhD and post-doctoral students, and Azrieli Foundation funding will allow the establishment of training fellowships to attract the best and brightest students. Learn more about postgraduate research training opportunities, and visit the Science Abroad website for more information about opportunities for faculty members.

The core faculty is a growing and extremely impactful team, with broad disciplinary range and academic affiliations. Read more about the team.

Azrieli Fellows are generating new knowledge in all fields of study, for the advancement of humanity in Israel and around the world.

In June, the Azrieli Foundation launched Aperio, a new digital and print publication which showcases the work of these outstanding early career faculty, postdoctoral researchers, PhD candidates and graduate students. 

Aperio highlights some of the outstanding work of Azrieli Fellows. From a metabolic engineer to a cybersecurity expert to a quantum physicist, they all have one thing in common: their cutting-edge research has been supported by the Azrieli Foundation.

Read about these leading international scientists and scholars in the formative stages of their careers and be inspired by the magnitude of their curiosity, their desire to make new discoveries, and their drive for excellence and impact.

The human olfactory system plays a key role not only in smell, but also in our most basic social interactions, emotions and recollections.

The Azrieli Foundation has supported the extraordinary work of Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science for many years. With a shared vision to enable scientific research for the benefit of humanity, the Foundation has made significant donations to ground-breaking neurodevelopmental research, systems biology and generous fellowships.

Most recently, the Azrieli Foundation established the Azrieli National Institute for Human Brain Imaging and Research at Weizmann. With a gift of $15 million, Weizmann was able to purchase a 7 Tesla (7T) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine and develop a country-wide research hub that provides unique opportunities and clinical collaborations focused on the human brain. At 7T, the MRI has the highest power currently in use with human subjects and is the only such machine in the Middle East.

One of the key challenges to fully understanding how the human brain works is its exceptionally complex connectivity. To probe this connectivity, scientists need to measure activity from the entire brain simultaneously, and functional brain imaging is the best, and nearly only, way to do this.

An MRI can provide scientists and clinicians with information that is impossible to get any other way. It can record the brain both when at rest and when actively performing a sensory or cognitive task. Most brain imaging is done with MRIs with lower field strength (1.5T or 3T). The higher the magnetic field, the better the resolution of images, and the faster they can be obtained, which means that more information can be extracted from images.

Here is a glimpse into some of the research done at the Azrieli National Institute for Human Brain Imaging using the 7T MRI.

The Director of the Azrieli National Institute for Human Brain Imaging and Research is Prof. Noam Sobel. His fascinating area of research explores how the brain processes smell, which is called olfaction.

The human olfactory system plays a key role not only in smell, but also in our most basic social interactions, emotions and recollections. Faulty functioning of this system may indicate early signs of neurological and cognitive deteriorations, for example, in Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Prof. Sobel has pioneered the development and construction of tools that emit and measure smells, and led the way in the use of brain imaging to measure the human brain’s response to odors. His earlier efforts include explaining how the brain uses two nostrils to form an olfactory image and developing technology that enables severely disabled people to communicate and steer a wheelchair by simply sniffing. More recent examples include using olfactory responses to predict who will recover from coma and brain injury, and a numerical way to represent odors – “a measure of smell” – that may one day make it possible to transmit smell over the internet. The Sobel group has also been very involved in the response to COVID-19, developing an online olfactory self-test  known as SmellTracker that allows for rapid self-diagnosis at home.

One of the key challenges to fully understanding how the human brain works is its exceptionally complex connectivity.